Wife’s gift of life to stranger so husband can receive kidney transplant

Happy family! Ian with his wife Kath and their girls Clara and Elsa at their first holiday in several years in Cornwall.
Ironically the beach they are overlooking is called Porth Kidney Beach! (Image: Kath Tann)

A loving wife donated her kidney to a stranger so her husband could receive a transplant.

Kath Tann's husband Ian needed a new kidney after contracting a rare disease which attacks as few as one in a million people.

She was not a match - but through a pioneering scheme was able to donate her kidney to a needy stranger in a similar situation with their own loved one.

She said: "I cannot put into words how being part of this scheme has transformed our family's life.

"Becoming a live donor has been the best decision I have ever made and I will never be able to put in to words the positive impact that this has had on us and our children."

The Linthwaite family's ordeal began two years ago when Ian, then 48, began suffering from headaches, aches and pains as well as extreme tiredness.

A visit to his GP left him needing to go to A&E immediately - his kidney function was dangerously low. He began dialysis at St James's hospital in Leeds the following day.

He was eventually diagnosed with a disease called Goodpasture syndrome, also known as Anti-GBM disease which can prove fatal.

This autoimmune condition causes rapid destruction of the kidneys and can cause bleeding in to the lungs.

In Ian’s case it had only affected his kidneys but due to speed of the disease his kidneys were only functioning at 4%.

Proud mom! Kath with her girls Clara and Elsa (Image: Kath Tann)

He remained in St James for eight weeks and endured hours of blood transfusions, chemotherapy, dialysis and plasma exchanges to try and get his kidneys working again.

He was discharged home, with dialysis at Calderdale Royal Hospital three times a week, before learning how to treat himself at home, enabling him to go back to work.

But unfortunately the damage was done.

Kath, a 43-year-old children's nurse, said: "We were informed that Ian could not go on the Kidney Transplant waiting list until a year following his illness, so in September 2017 he was listed.

"I had also started having tests to see if I could donate one of my kidneys. Ian and I were a blood type match but not a tissue type match which meant that I would not be able to donate my kidney to Ian.

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"Fortunately though we were accepted on to a pioneering scheme called 'paired and pooled donation'.

"The aim of the scheme is to match donors and recipients across the country in a similar situation. In our case we were in a pooled donation chain, I was one of three donors who donated a kidney to one of three recipients all on the same day.

"This is all carefully coordinated between the transplant teams within the renal units. We do not know where Ian’s kidney came from and I do not know where mine went.

"When we entered the scheme in December 2017 we were incredibly fortunate to be matched in our first run and our surgery took place earlier this year. Some people wait years for a suitable match or die waiting for a life-saving transplant."

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Kath and Ian, now 50, have two daughters, Clara, 12, and Elsa, seven. They have been together for 22 years and celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary next week.

She said: "Before, Ian’s transplant dialysis dictated every part of our lives. We were not able to go away as a family and things that I have always taken for granted like having a family trip to the cinema or meal would rarely happen due to the pressure of fitting in the hours of treatment Ian needed to stay alive.

"Being on dialysis is so unpredictable, during the 18 months that he was on it he had several other admissions to hospital including an ICU admission all due to dialysis-related problems.

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"For anyone considering being a live donor the work up tests were simple, the surgery was straightforward and the pain following my surgery wasn’t too bad. Within a few weeks I was able to resume normal activities.

"The support that we have had from St James has been amazing. They are by your side every part of your donation journey. My nurse Jo even came to theatre with me and remained with me throughout the procedure.

"It's Organ Donation week this week and although there is a lot of awareness regarding 'deceased donation' but I think it would be great if we could raise awareness of Live donation this week.

"I am really keen to raise the profile of live kidney donation as prior to us being in this situation I did not know that anyone who is fit and well could donate a kidney."